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I like Anders and Ander a lot, but I don't like the surnames as first names. Anton is a family name for me, so I like that quite a bit as well.

Anders somehow seems incomplete to me, and too likely to get the nn Andy, imo. I definitely prefer it to Anderson (even like I do like Anderson Cooper, lol) or the extraordinarily boring Andrew. Maybe use Anders as a mn? I'm really like Anton lately. It's somewhat exotic but I can see it realistically being used on a person in the U.S., too.

I generally like Anton. I'm from Germany and the name seemed to be out-dated here, but I think it's making a comeback! Wouldn't use it though, nms.
'Anders' is German for 'different', so not a name in my book. It might do as a mn though. Of course I don't know how the name is perceived in your region.

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Most important is that you like it!

They are not terrible names IMO but they are not my style. Anders is the last name of some of my cousins through their dad. So Anders,for me personally, is very surnamey. But I understand that it can be used as a first name. Anton is better of the two IMO.

Anton is nice, very slavic-sounding. I'm sorry but I really dislike Anders Andersen and Anderson, they're way too surnamey. The fact that they're family names improves the situation slightly, but since you wanted a first impression, the firs impression is negative.

Right now, the first thing I think of when I hear Anton is the movie Gaslight--it's the surname of the main characters, so I associate it with a scary man and a downtrodden woman. And then I think of Thursday Next, in which case, Anton is the cool brother. ;)

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Anders doesn't remind me of anything in particular on first glance, but I like it. It sounds distinguished and respectable to me, like he could be an older man in my (notoriously Norwegian) area. Andersen reminds me of Danny Kaye as Hans Christian; Anderson, of a teacher with whom I had a love-hate relationship and the song "Why Am I Me?" from the musical Shenandoah.

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Anton and Anders are definitely my favourites of the bunch, and then Andersen as a mn.

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Being from Sweden both Anderson and Andersen are surnames to me while Anders is the first name. I think Anders is ok and so is Anton but I prefer Anders.
You could always use Anders as a NN to Anderson/Andersen.

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This message was edited 7/3/2007, 4:07 AM

I dislike both Ander and Anton, but I really like Anderson.
Especially because of Anderson Cooper, the reporter on CNN.